Vol. 23 October 15, 1933 JOURNAL GF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES BOARD OF EDITORS Hugh L. Dryden WiLMOT H. Bradley John A. Stevenson BTTRKATJ OF STANDAEDS U. 8. GEOLOGICAL 8UKVBT BUBHAU OF PLANT INDUSTBT ASSOCIATE EDITORS H. T. Wensel Harold Morrison PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIBTT BNTOMOLOGICAL SOCIBTT E. A. Goldman W. W. RUBEY BIOLOGICAL SOCIBTT GEOLOGICAL SOCIBTT Agnes Chase J. R. SwANTON BOTANICAL SOCIBTT ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIBTT R. E. Gibson OHBMICAL SOCIBTT PUBLISHED MONTHLY BT THB WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 450 Ahnaip St. AT MenASH A, Wisconsin Entered as second class matter under the Act of August 24, 1912, at Meaaaha, Wis. Aooeptance for mailing at the special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925 Authorized January 21, 1933. 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Exchanges.—The Journal does not exchange with other publications. Missing Numbers will be replaced without charge provided that claim is made to the Treasurer within thirty days after date of following issue. Officers of the Academy President: R. F. Griggs, George Washington University. Corresponding Secretary: Paul E. Howe, Bureau of Animal Industry. Recording Secretary: Charles Thom, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. Treasurer: Henry G. Avers, Coast and Geodetic Survey. — JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Vol. 23 October 15, 1933 No. 10 BOTANY. New species and new names of grasses from Texas} A. S. Hitchcock, Bureau of Plant Industry. In the course of the preparation of a manual of grasses of the United States it has been found necessary to describe several new species and to transfer a few names. The following descriptions and transfers concern grasses found in Texas. Bromus anomalus var. lanatipes (Shear) Hitchc. Bromus porteri lanatipes Shear, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 23 : 37. 1900. Eragrostis arida Hitchc, sp. nov. Annua; culmi tenerae, basi ramosi, 20-40 cm. alti; laminae planae, longe acuminatae, 4-8 cm. longae, 1-2 mm. latae; panicula erecta, patula, 8-15 cm. longa, ramis in axiUis glabris vel paullum pilosis, solitariis vel inferiori- bus binis; spiculae oblongae vel lineares, stramineae, 8-15-flores, 5-10 mm. longae, 1.5-2 mm. latae, pedicellis patulis fiexuosis lateralibus 2-3 mm. longis; glumae acutae, prima angusta 1 mm. longa, secunda paullum longior et latior; lemmata 1.6-1.8 mm. longa, acutiuscula; palea persistens. Annual; culms branching at base, slender, erect or somewhat decumbent at base, 20 to 40 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous, pilose at the summit, the hairs in a dense line part way along the collar; ligule a dense line of hairs about 0.5 mm. long; blades flat or sometimes folded or loosely involute, glabrous, tapering to a fine point, mostly 4 to 8 cm. long, 1 to 2 mm. wide; panicle one-third to half the entire height of the plant, erect, open, the branches, branchlets, and pedicels spreading, the axils glabrous or the lower sparsely pilose, the branches solitary, rather distant or the lower in pairs; spikelets oblong to linear, stramineous or drab, mostly 8 to 15-flowered, 5 to 10 mm. long, 1.5 to 2 mm. wide, somewhat compressed, the pedicels flexuous, the lateral 2 to 3 mm. long; glumes acute, the first narrow, scarcely 1 mm. long, the second a little longer and wider; lemmas 1.6 to 1.8 mm. long, acutish; palea scarcely as long as the lemma, persistent; grain 1 mm. long. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 905937, collected on prairie at Del Rio, Texas, September 14, 1915, by A. S. Hitchcock (no. 13650). This species has been confused with Eragrostis suaveolens Becker, E, 1 Received August 10, 1933. 450 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 23, NO. 10 mexicana (Lag.) Link, E. pilosa (L.) Beauv., and E. limbata Fourn. It differs from E. suaveolens in the smaller size, the lack of glands on the sheaths, and the slightly smaller spikelets; from E. mexicana in the smaller and more slender stramineous spikelets; from E. pilosa in the larger spikelets; from E. limbata, which is confined to Mexico, in its larger panicles, longer stram- ineous spikelets, and more acute lemmas. Dry soil, Texas to Arizona and central Mexico. Texas: Lubbock, Whitehouse 7509; Amarillo, Hitchcock 16205; Edinburg, Swallen 1081; Del Rio, Hitchcock 13650; Lyford, Hitchcock in 1904; New Braunfels, Hitchcock 5196. Arizona: South of Bisbee, Mearns 1028, 1071; Baboquivari Mountains, Gilman A 20. New Mexico: Carlsbad, Hitchcock 13487. Sonora: South of Nogales, Griffiths 6793. Hermosillo, Hitchcock 3593. Chihuahua: Candelaria, Stearns 261. DuRANGO : Tlahualilo, Pittier 476. Nayarit: Acaponeta, Rose 14321. Eragrostis intermedia Hitchc, sp. nov. Perennis; culmi erecti, caespitosi, 40-80 cm. alti; vaginae glabrae, apice valde pilosae; laminae planae vel plus minusve involutae, plerumque gla- brae; 10-20 (-30) cm. longae, 1-3 mm. latae; panicula erecta, patula vel diffusa, 15-35 cm. longa, in axillis pilosa, ramis patulis, tenuibus, solitariis, inferioribus duobus vel tribus; spiculae 3-9-flores, 3-10 mm. longae, pedi- cellis flexuosis, 5-15 mm. longis; glumae acutae, prima 1-1.2 mm. longa, secunda 1.2-1.4 mm. longa; lemmata turgida, obscure nervata, 1.8-2 mm. longa; palea persistens. Perennial; culms erect, tufted, mostly 40-80 cm. tall; sometimes taller; sheaths glabrous or the lowermost sparsely pilose, conspicuously pilose at the throat, the hairs extending in a line across the collar; ligule a dense line of hairs less than 0.5 mm. long; blades flat or more or less involute, especially those of the innovations, pilose on the upper surface near the base, other- wise glabrous or sometimes with a few scattering hairs, scabrous toward the fine involute point, 10 to 25 cm. long, sometimes as much as 30 cm., 1 to 4 mm. wide; panicle erect, open, often diffuse, 15 to 35 cm. long, at maturity usually about two-thirds as wide, pilose in the axils, sometimes sparsely so, rarely glabrous, the branches slender but rather stiff, solitary and somewhat distant or the lower in pairs or verticils, all spreading, often widely or hori- zontally, the branchlets and pedicels ascending or spreading; spikelets 3 to 8, rarely 9-flowered, 3 to 9, rarely 10 mm. long, 1 to 1.5 mm. wide, grayish or brownish green, the pedicels somewhat flexuous, minutely scabrous, 1 to 3 times as long as the spikelet; glumes acute, the first 1 to 1.2 mm. long, the second 1.2 to 1.4 mm. long; lemmas turgid, obscurely nerved, 1.8 to 2 mm. long, usually bronze-tipped, not hyaline-margined; palea about as long as the lemma, persistent, minutely scabrous on the keels; caryopsis oblong, about 0.7 mm. long. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 1535749 collected in moist place in gravel pit near San Antonio, Texas, July 3, 1910, by A. S. Hitch- cock (no. 5491). : OCTOBER 15, 1933 HITCHCOCK: GRASSES FROM TEXAS 451 The following specimens, previously referred to Eragrostis lugens Nees, are representative of the species Missouri: Sheffield, Bush 9222; Redings Mill, Bush 5064. Georgia: Athens, Harper 32, Weatherwax 11; Camelle, Tracy 3729.